Susanna Valent - The Principal - A Novel of Lesbian Love

She was quiet a long time. “I live a lie every day. Now I have to live two, although it isn't your fault. I chose to come here, as you said.” She was quiet again, and I left her to it. “Before I knew who you were, I felt an enormous attraction. Now I'm not so sure."

“That's okay. I know it's a shock. I just had one last week myself,” I reminded her.

“Why don't you think I'm scum?” she cried. “How can you respect me anymore?"

“Oh, Dr. Jeffries, this has nothing to do with respect! This has to do with sharing and trust. My respect for you is undiminished because I already understand myself. I know where you're coming from. I feel the same. You're still my boss, an educator and a scholar. Who cares what kind of sex you like? It isn't anybody else's business,” I said, pleading with my eyes.

“I need to know more about you, and I need time to think, before I decide to take early retirement and run away to Tahiti,” she tried joking. “And I really think, that under the circumstances, you ought to call me ‘Lynn.’”

“Yes, ma'am, Lynn,” I said, loving her with my voice.

“Hey, you're the domme, remember,” she chided.

“You're my boss, and that's how I'm gonna treat you outside of here. I just want you to know. Are you going to be all right?"

She stared at me. “Be all right? No! Are you crazy! My janitor now knows more about me than my parents do. Absolutely not!"

I stared back, scared again. “So, what… what do you wanna do?"

She leaned over and got right in my face. “You're about to pull an all-nighter with me, Jane. I'm not letting you out of my sight until I figure this thing out. As you said, I'm the boss. You come with me."

Now it was my turn to be paralyzed. I don't know what I had expected, but it wasn't this. “Uh, uh, what about my car?"

“Leave it."

“Yes, ma'am."

We went to our respective locker rooms and changed into our street clothes. I could have escaped then, and perhaps she had meant it as a test, but I met her on the corner, as we agreed, not in front, so they wouldn't know we had left together. She now wore normal but expensive sandals, faded jeans and a white oxford shirt. I was enchanted.

We threw our bags in the trunk of the BMW. She got in and gunned the engine. In a few minutes, I understood what she was up to. We were headed for the beach.

“Jesus,” Lynn said. She was holding my hand and we were staring into the blackness of the Gulf of Mexico. She had parked in deep shadows so the cops couldn't see us without looking real hard. And we had our clothes on, which spoke well of us in case they did.

“What am I gonna do with you, Jane?” She turned her head to look at me and I was struck again by the intensity of her personality. It was as if the entire universe was feeding off the energy she produced simply by existing.

“I… I don't know. I'm sorry, I couldn't let it go on. And I knew you had feelings. I couldn't abandon you.” My heart was in my throat but I was glad she was still holding my hand. It was a warm, dry grip, the grip of a confident woman.

Lynn sighed. “When I thought you were a janitor, I had one image of you, and it wasn't flattering, believe me. When I thought you were a domme at the club, I had another image altogether, far more flattering, and I was falling for you. Trying to reconcile those two concepts is very hard. I don't know when I've ever been faced with such a challenge."

I said, “When I thought of you as the principal and my boss, I had two images of you, and one was flattering while the other wasn't. When you came to the club and sat in the bleachers, I thought you were someone else, too. It was a shock to find you're a sub."

“Looks like we have one another by the short and curlies,” she observed.

I laughed. “Where in the world did you learn to talk like that?"

“Never you mind. I'm old enough to be your…"

“Sister,” I cut her off.

“Oh, I don't think so,” she laughed.

“I know how old you are,” I said simply.

Lynn yanked her hand back. “You little shit! How can you? Have you…"

I cut her off again. “Your age is a matter of public record. You've published books. It's on the net. So is mine."

She sank back and held out her hand again. “You're right. I apologize."

I put my hand in hers. “You're upset. You have a right to be."

“How old are you?” she asked.

I told her.

“You're older than I am! Why are you a janitor, dammit?” She got agitated every three point five seconds, it seemed.

“You're a snob, aren't you?” I asked, amused.

“Damn right I am. I deserve better in my life than the school janitor, so you'd better have a good explanation.” She was all business.

I told her the story of my life, not every wrinkle, but enough to explain how I could be older than she, a janitor, well-educated, a writer, a domme, a lesbian, divorced, whatever. Everything she really needed to know, and no lies or half-truths this time. I could fill in the inconsequential details if and when she wanted them.

“Quite a path,” she mused. “Mine was a bit more… mundane."

“And look what you've accomplished. You're a success. I'm a non-entity,” I said sadly. I didn't deserve a woman like Lynn.

“You are a very interesting person. You have some unique talents and abilities, if you're telling the truth. I would love to see what you have written. Will you show me?” she asked, cocking her head in that cute way she had.

“All I've published so far is porn,” I warned her.

“Doesn't matter. I can tell from that if you're any good."

“Of course,” I agreed.

“But as to this relationship,” she went on, “I'm not sure exactly what to do."

“Shall I resign? I can look for another job,” I offered. “I mean, I would understand you not wanting me around."

“Let's put that on hold for now. I want to look at your resume, which I will do as soon as I leave you, and I have some… other issues. I… really don't want a relationship with a woman who has a whole lot of other lovers. It's dangerous. In fact, I'd like you to get an STD panel and show me the results for my own safety. It was foolish for me to even start, in retrospect, but it's best to find out right away if I have anything."

“I had one done last month for the club, but I'll get another. You should get one, too,” I pointed out the obvious.

“I will. I must insist you choose between me and the club right now. I will simply not tolerate additional partners. If things don't work out with us, you can always go back. And I don't know what might happen, or how soon we will know, but as long as we have any intimacy, you're mine alone, or not at all."

“I'll quit tomorrow,” I said. It was no issue at all for me.

“You do that. I want to see you tomorrow at the hours you're usually at the club to be sure. Understand?"

“I have to go there to quit,” I explained. “I have to clean out my locker."

“Be at my house by nine PM or I won't see you again, and you will resign,” she said seriously. Now I knew how her staff felt all day, every day.

“Yes, ma'am.” That sounded so good, so right. I knew she was dominant. I still wanted to get to the bottom of her “sub-routine,” but not that very minute.

But she had other ideas.

“Now I'll explain how I got here, and then we'll have a more mutual understanding of one another,” Lynn said, and she delivered her lecture. I felt I should have been taking notes, but frankly, it felt so great just being there with her that I wouldn't have cared if she told me she'd been hatched by Godzilla and abandoned at a monastery where she'd had a sex-change operation. I closed my eyes and thought about the fact that my hand was in hers and we were alone in her car on the beach in the middle of the night.